Jamaica’s tourism minister confident of Air Jamaica/CAL’s success

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Dr Wykeham McNeill has said he is confident the Air Jamaica/Caribbean Airliners Ltd (CAL) merger will work. In an interview with the Guardian at the Ritz Carlton Hotel here in Montego Bay, McNeill told the Guardian the rationalisation should soon come to an end and he is hopeful tit will lead to the growth of CAL.

McNeill said: “Caribbean Airlines took over Air Jamaica after a lot of discussions. We were happy that the Air Jamaica brand was able to remain. This is so because Air Jamaica is important part of the link of Jamaica and the ability to retain that was important for us.

“The fact of the matter is that by taking over Air Jamaica, Caribbean Airlines had it immediately doubled its passengers and became the dominant airline in the region. We have seen there has been a cutting of some of the routes that Air Jamaica used to fly, and I have spoken with the Jamaican directors on the board and I have been told that the decisions are due to economic reasons and we are not against this because we want Caribbean Airlines to succeed,” McNeill said.